ATK brings space to Logan
Many USU students might not know it, but NASA has strong connections with Logan. With around 17,000 employees, ATK is one of the fastest growing aerospace and defense companies around. They have more than 51 facilities in 21 states, with several locations in Utah.
The ATK Web site states some of these systems are in Logan, Clearfield and Brigham City with some of their systems specializing in launch and spacecraft.
ATK was founded in 1990 as an independent company and over the years several different acquisitions have formed the company into what it is today.
The ATK Mission Systems Web site states that the reason they are so successful is because “Unlike our competition, we are not dependent upon large platforms or programs of record that often constrain the ability to think out of the box. As a result, we are able to bring to the market non-traditional approaches to the way business has always been done in our industry – and we do so with speed and innovation.”
The ATK headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minn. with the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer being Daniel J. Murphy, a former member of the Navy of 30 years.
A statement from Murphy on the Web site about ATK said, “Our strategy is to build on our core aerospace and defense businesses by aggressively challenging the status quo with affordable, innovative solutions.”
ATK is well known for their use of their advanced technology to become a major contractor for precision weapons and space systems.
Their mission statement, the Web site stated, is to be leaders in “affordable precision weapons technology, lightweight composite structures, special mission aircraft systems integration, missile propulsion, warheads, and fuzing, and to be leaders in advanced systems engineering and hypersonic propulsion development.”
In Logan, the Web site states, there is a mission system. ATK Mission Systems, the Web site states, “are leading supplier of precision systems, aerospace structures, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) programs, and electronic warfare. The group has approximately 4,300 employees.”
ATK is also a leading provider in several different space systems. Some of what they are leading providers of is small and micro-satellites, satellite components and subsystems, leaders in low-cost quick to market launch systems, missile defense and strategic missile propulsion, and much more.
Visit the Web site for further information at http://www.atk.com/index.asp.
–jess.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu